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Core questions answered
- What counts as menaje and what does not?
- How do permanent and temporary routes differ?
- Which PDF or checklist should the reader use for the full packet?
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The answer first
Menaje is the tax-free household-goods route. It is not a catch-all exemption for everything you own.
ANAM's menaje guidance is pretty clean on the core rules: the goods must generally have been acquired at least six months before import, the timing window runs within three months before entry or six months after arrival, and vehicles are explicitly excluded.
The core rule box
Menaje covers used household goods and family-use items, and may also include professional or scientific tools when they are indispensable to your trade. It does not cover commercial goods. It does not cover vehicles. And it does not politely forgive a bad inventory.
| Rule | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Used goods only | The ANAM baseline says the menaje should have been acquired at least 6 months before import. Brand-new replacement shopping right before the move is not the spirit of this route and can create problems. |
| Vehicles excluded | Cars do not go on a menaje list. ANAM says that directly, and consular examples repeat it. Same goes for commercial or industrial-use goods. |
| Customs broker required | The broker handles the pedimento and the customs-side filing. If you wait to think about that part until the shipment is already moving, you are late. |
Route split
The legal route changes depending on your status — and the packet changes depending on your consulate.
ANAM defines the customs-law path. The consulate defines the certificate packet you need before the shipment can clear. Same process, two authorities.
The consular packet
This is where the process gets operational — copies, inventory rules, and all.
Barcelona, Milan, and the Orlando foreigner PDF all point to the same practical truth: the inventory and packet quality matter just as much as your basic eligibility.
Common packet pattern
- Application form from the consulate.
- Passport and the copies your post requires.
- Visa or resident card copies where applicable.
- Detailed household-goods inventory, usually original plus four copies.
- For electronics: brand, model, and serial number for each item.
- Any declaration your post requires about prior menaje use in the same fiscal year.
- Current local fee and payment method, confirmed directly with the post.
The Orlando PDF is useful for one reason in particular
It shows how practical some consular implementations get: typed Spanish inventory, progressive numbering, original plus four copies, a letter promising return of goods at the end of stay, and even an email pre-review step before the appointment. Use that as a model packet example — not as proof that your own post will behave identically.
Inventory rules worth respecting
- Write it in Spanish. Bilingual may work at some posts, but Spanish is the safest assumption.
- Type it. Do not handwrite a dream and call it a customs document.
- Number items progressively and avoid blank spaces or loose formatting.
- Include your address abroad and your address in Mexico.
- Keep vehicles and business inventory off the list entirely.
Timing and broker coordination
Most menaje pain is timing pain wearing a paperwork costume.
Before shipping
Choose the correct residency/status route
Confirm the exact consular packet with your post
Finish the inventory
Engage the customs broker
Quiet failure modes
- Putting off the broker until the shipment is already on the way.
- Treating a local consulate example as universal law.
- Forgetting that temporary-status menaje can carry a return obligation.
- Assuming one badly described electronics list will somehow sort itself out later.
What to do next if you are serious about shipping
Open the shipping-household-goods page next. Menaje is the legal framework. Shipping is the execution layer that sits on top of it.
Need the lighter next step?
If you want the logistics basics first, grab the free logistics checklist.
Free planning asset
Free Mexico Move Logistics Quick Checklist
A lighter checklist for household goods, vehicle permits, pets, and the move-day paperwork lanes before you move into the full paid guide.
- Get a lighter, faster version of the sequence before you buy a guide.
- Use it to figure out whether residency, admin setup, or logistics is your real blocker.
- Come back to the paid guide when you want the printable full version.
Use these next
These pages are the most useful follow-ups once menaje is on your radar.
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Sources and research basis